


There Must Be More Than This

by ShippingEverything



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cosette And Enjolras Are Siblings, Gen, Its a good time, Theater AU, drama club politics, enjolras is cast as belle (bel?) and cosette is the beast, i also stole jvj's fake last name for them bc fantine doesnt have a last name, i spent my high school career painting sets and gossiping so i might as well use the info i gained, theyre putting on beauty and the beast
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-10-21 07:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10680327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShippingEverything/pseuds/ShippingEverything
Summary: “This is going to be a mess,” Éponine says simply. She’s definitely correct, but,“It’ll be aninterestingmess, fun to watch,” Grantaire says, grinning. Then, “Bet you $5 that the Wonder Twins’ll freak.”Éponine scoffs. “I don’t take sucker bets.”Or: the show must go on, even if the leading actors don't want it to





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so most of this is Mostly prewritten, so we're gonna try for twice weekly updates. thursdays and mondays. i believe in myself.
> 
> this fic has been haunting my mind for literal years and ive finally been able to pen it in a respectable way so yep here we go, please enjoy!

Lukas is not a good actor. Really, he’s barely even a _decent_ actor. He knows that the only reason he can get a spot in any show is his school’s desperation for men in the drama club, but he keeps embarrassing himself in auditions year after year for one reason and one reason only: The Fauchelevent twins. 

Auditions are closed to everyone except those auditioning so, every year, an inordinate amount of people audition just so they can see firsthand what crazy thing the twins are going to do this year. The twins are like… Sharpay and Ryan Evans; they’re easily the best singers, dancers, and actors in the whole town, and they always audition. The only thing is, they never get in.

They could, easily, take the leads in every show if they were serious, but Enjolras and Cosette are opinionated-- _way_ too liberal for their small town--and ever since Cosette was told that she couldn’t play Charlie to Enjolras’ Willy Wonka back in the 5th grade, their auditions have been purposely disruptive and ridiculous. A “Social comment” or something, is what that Joly kid in Lukas’ math class calls it. Lukas just calls it free entertainment, especially with how red Javert’s face gets each year.

“Cosette Fauchelevent?” Javert asks when a freshman finishes butchering a chorus line song, and you can _hear_ the exhaustion in his voice. Cosette skips out in the boy’s uniform that she’s been wearing all month. The auditorium takes a collective breath. 

“Hi!” She chirps, curtseying despite the slacks she wears. Lukas is sure that you could hear Javert groaning if you listened closely. “I’m Cosette and I’m going to be auditioning for The Beast!”

That’s not unusual--Cosette usually auditions for male parts, it’s her thing--but everyone is still waiting for her song. Last production, she did a monologue about atheism and sex from that Spring Breakening play because word had got out that Father Myriel was going to be watching. 

“How is she going to top that?” The girl sitting next to Lukas--Music-something?--mutters. She’s shushed because Cosette has cued the music. She begins to sing, and Lukas is almost disappointed by how normal it sounds, a song about a secret relationship of some kind, until she reaches the second bridge and it becomes clear that it’s _not_ just about that.

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Music girl whispers again, laughing quietly, because Cosette is singing about being a gay boy in a catholic school, less than a month after her brother came out and was threatened with expulsion for putting several rainbow flag pins on his backpack, and less than two weeks after the most widespread group of anti-homophobia protests by catholic school students in the history of _ever_. Valjean is stifling laughter in his sleeve and Javert’s eye is twitching.

Cosette finishes with another curtsey and a wicked smirk, tossing her blonde tresses over her shoulder as she flounces off stage. Javert hands the list to Valjean, even though everyone knows that the only person left is…

“Enjolras Fauchelevent!”

Silence, followed by a strange _click-click_ ing sound, then a chorus of gasps as Enjolras steps onstage.

“Good afternoon,” The words fall from Enjolras’ ruby red lips and his greeting echoes off the walls, somehow silencing the crowd’s reaction. He looks pristine, from the bright white button down to the crisp, just-too-short skirt to the sleek black heels. His eyes crinkles with mirth as he surveys the crowd, which only serves to emphasize his perfectly lined eyes more. “My name is Enjolras and I’m going to be trying out for the role of Belle.”

The audience cheers. Javert throws his hands up. Enjolras grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "lydia why would u write ur first chapter in the pov of an oc?" because we have a Lot of story to tell and i dont wanna waste any of the important characters on opening exposition. next chapter on monday! see yall then!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont usually like writing for r but this is a Good chapter

Grantaire has a free period last bell, so he’s the first one to see the cast list. He likes drama club, despite the fact that he was originally dragged into it kicking and screaming by Éponine so that he wouldn’t be able to spend his afternoons drinking with seniors. He gets Lumiere, which is expected because he’s a decent actor and Valjean and Javert like him well enough, but some of the other roles are more… interesting. _Shocking_ , He thinks, though it shouldn’t really be.

Still, it’s always entertaining to watch people check the list, and he thinks it’ll be even moreso this year, so he parks himself on the wall next to the list to watch the show. Eventually, Éponine joins him, whistling lowly when she reads the most exciting part of the list and high-fiving him when she sees that she’s going to be his Babette.

“This is going to be a shitshow,” She says simply. She’s definitely correct, but,

“It’ll be an _interesting_ shitshow, fun to watch,” Grantaire says, grinning. Then, “Bet you $5 that the Wonder Twins’ll freak.”

Éponine scoffs, glancing back at the list. “I don’t take sucker bets.”

It’s nearly 4 when Enjolras and Cosette finally make their way down; they never get there early, because they literally just come down to make sure that their names aren’t on the list, to take a sad selfie, and leave. By now there’s a decent crowd but Grantaire still has the best spot to watch Enjolras’ eyes widen almost comically as he reads the list.

“ _What_.” Enjolras says, so shocked that it doesn't even come out as a question. Cosette pushes him out of the way and literally squeaks when she sees it.

“Congrats on the leading roles, Ange-olras and Caille-sette,” Grantaire says as Enjolras physically picks up the list to make sure that, yes, it is in fact his name next to ‘Belle’ and Cosette’s next to ‘The Beast’.

“How?” Enjolras snarls to Grantaire, as if it’s somehow his fault. The five people closest to him and Éponine all take a huge step back, even if that means hitting the wall or other people. Grantaire grins and shrugs, but Cosette pats Enjolras’ arm placatingly before Enjolras can snap again.

Cosette takes a deep breath then asks the crowd at large, “Pardon, does anyone know _how_ we got the lead roles?” and someone actually _raises their hand_ to answer. 

“Um, I hear that Valjean got to choose the cast this time? And he really liked your auditions?”

Enjolras and Cosette huddle together. Grantaire can still sort of hear them, something about dropping out and a bit about protesting and freedom of speech. He nudges Éponine and gestures at what is quite possibly the best thing he’s ever seen in his entire life. She rolls her eyes. Cosette eventually straightens up to ask, “Why didn’t we know about this beforehand?”

“Because, Miss Fauchelevent,” Valjean says when he _comes out of_ fucking nowhere, _Jesus Christ, like some sort of ninja_ , “We didn’t want the pool to be sparser because of Mr. Javert’s lack of involvement. We know how much you all love him.”

Grantaire badly disguises his snort of laughter as a cough. _Love annoying him, more like._

The look Enjolras and Cosette share says that they wouldn’t have auditioned if they had known that they actually had a chance this year.

“Mr. Valjean,” Enjolras starts, slipping from upset to his ‘A troubled but bright boy’ persona in a second. Grantaire rolls his eyes, because no matter how annoying Enjolras is, he’s still charming as hell. “I have so much going on this year and I didn’t expect a lead-”

“But you tried out for Belle.”

Enjolras stops talking, stunned silent for once. “Well, yes, but-”

“Then you got the role you auditioned for! Congratulations!” Valjean claps his hands and begins walking away, “Rehearsals start on Tuesday, make sure you’re all there!”

Enjolras and Cosette exchange more distressed looks and start follow after Valjean with excuses rolling off their tongues, but Valjean won’t hear it.

“I’m sure you’ll make the best Belle the world has ever seen, Angel!” Grantaire yells after them. Enjolras back at him scowls over his shoulder.

Éponine takes one look at Grantaire and sighs deeply, which is enough to tell Grantaire that his smile probably looks dopey enough to be embarrassing. He tries to get it under control, but annoying their very own Saint-Just is just _so much fun_.

“You’re a glutton for punishment,” Éponine says, eventually, as the crowd begins to disperse. She isn’t wrong.

“Yep!” Grantaire agrees cheerfully, “But this show’s gonna be _excellent_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dabs* idk if theres going to be explicit exr but im a Slut for that ship so itll be here in the wings
> 
> ange means angel in french, sounds like "enj". caille means quail in french and is generally an endearment, and sounds like "kai-set" when r says it rather than the correct "coz-et"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> combeferre is the best friend and no one deserves him honestly

The click of his door and an anguished cry of “ _Valjean_ made me _Belle_!” Is the only warning that Combeferre gets before a pajama-clad Enjolras drapes himself over Combeferre’s bed and homework.

“You’re wrinkling my notes,” Combeferre huffs, then, “How did you even get in here? Also, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Enjolras straightens up and moves some of the pages (But Combeferre can see that Enjolras is sorting them into the _wrong_ piles, so he heaves a resigned sigh as he realizes that he’s not going to get any more work done tonight) before continuing with, “Remember when I said I was going to try out for the female lead in the next production?”

Combeferre raises an eyebrow. “And remember when I said not to do that?”

“Okay, yes, you did say that, but that’s not the point,” Enjolras says, even though it seems to Combeferre like that might totally be the point.  “ _Anyway_ , I _did_ audition for the female lead--and I went all out, I wore one of Cosette’s old skirts, had her do my makeup and hair, and I looked _fantastic_ , I have selfies to show you later--and we’re doing _Beauty and The Beast_ and so ‘Sette and I swapped the ‘traditional’ roles and _normally_ that plus the makeup plus Cosette doing a song from Bare would've made Javert angry enough to keep us off the cast list entirely.”

“But it backfired?” Combeferre asks, and Enjolras’ whine is answer enough. Combeferre pushes his notes off the bed (and with only a small wince!) so that Enjolras can fling himself down like the dramatic romcom heroine that he is inside. Enjolras does, of course, and Combeferre resists the urge to roll his eyes. _Actors_ , he thinks even as he gently strokes Enjolras’ hair, _So dramatic_. “Come on, Enj, you can angst to me about how you tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it didn’t even- Hey!”

Combeferre puts a hand up to defend himself as Enjolras sits us and brandishes a pillow with both hands, pouting. “I am _suffering_ , ‘Ferre, and if you quote music from my emo phase at me again I’ll hit you with something harder than a pillow.”

Combeferre shrugs. “I told you it was a bad idea.”

“I get it, you’re always right,” Enjolras says, rolling his eyes. “It would’ve _worked_ , but, for some reason, Valjean got to choose the cast and it ruined _everything_. Now I have to play _Belle_.”

“Would it be ‘Bel’, with one L and one E?” Combeferre muses, “Since you’re a guy?”

Enjolras hits Combeferre with the pillow again before crumpling back onto the bed in despair. “You’re focusing on the wrong thing. If I had known that I had a chance, I would’ve auditioned for someone else and let Cosette be Belle. She’d be great at it.”

Ah, so there’s the root of the problem. They don’t want to do the show _and_ Enjolras is afraid of hurting Cosette. “Is she upset about this?”

“Upset that we’re in this play like this when we had expected nothing besides _maybe_ an ensemble role, but not at me.” He pauses, before saying unsurely, “At least, I don’t think so”

“Of course she’s not,” Combeferre consoles, “She could never be mad at you, and I doubt that you came up with plan all on your own.”

Enjolras shrugs. Combeferre, determined to make his friend feel better, pulls up the school site to check the digital cast list.

“There is a bright side,” Combeferre offers after making a quick check, “You’re making an impact, just imagine the backlash as parents find out that they’re putting on a version of the show with the leads swapped in gender. And _only_ the leads. The list says that everyone else is still the same, which makes Gaston…”

“A gay character!” Enjolras shouts as he shoots up, suddenly revived. “I mean, he’s a gay character that will be a bad guy, but still!” He stands and does a dorky dance at the foot of the bed, cheering.

Combeferre sighs fondly. “You know, no one at school would believe that you broke into my house in silk pjs and danced in my room. Especially if I implied that you were _that bad_ at dancing when you’re not following a routine.”

“I’m not a bad dancer,” Enjolras says, shooting Combeferre a faux glare that’s ruined by the smile that’s still on his face. “And I didn’t break in. You leave your spare key under your welcome mat, it was just unlocking and entering.”

“You say that like it makes it any better.”

Enjolras pouts and tries to dive and grab a pillow to retaliate, but is distracted by Combeferre’s mother poking her head in. She doesn’t respond to Enjolras’ presence except for blinking and “When did Enjolras get here? And are you staying over, dear?”

After she leaves, Combeferre says, “You know, the fact that my mother isn’t surprised probably says bad things about you.”

“Probably,” Enjolras says, though he seems unbothered. _Well, he never has cared about what others think_. “Still, are you going to help me try to get kicked out of the production? That’s why I came over here in the first place, because Cosette wanted to get your advice. She’s making a list of things we could do.”

Combeferre cocks his head, “But a second ago you were ecstatic about gay Gaston?”

“I mean, yeah, but there are people who would be better for these roles in the cast, and we don’t even want them,” Enjolras shrugs, “Like Éponine? She’s playing Babette, but imagine her as Belle,” He pauses then, flushing a bit before continuing, “And Grantaire, for all his faults, would make a fantastic Beast. Cynical, rude, abrasive…”

“Handsome, charming, a heart of gold under a scruffy and spiky exterior?” Combeferre adds, if only to see Enjolras flush more. Combeferre lets Enjolras splutter for a few seconds before lifting his hands in defense, “I’m just saying, if you just wanted me to get _Cosette_ kicked out so that you and Grantaire could play opposite each other-”

“Shut up! I told you _once_ that I found him even _somewhat_ attractive, and you won’t let it go!” Enjolras says, having reached his breaking point. He attacks Combeferre with the pillow and Combeferre laughs as he gets his hands on his other pillow and responds in kind. Several minutes later, when they’ve both tired themselves out and dropped the pillows in favor of collapsing onto Combeferre’s bed and breathing heavily, Enjolras speaks again.

“So,” Enjolras says eventually, words interspersed with deep breaths, “You’re going to help us make sure we get kicked out, right?”

Combeferre looks at Enjolras’ hopeful face and sighs. The things he does for his friend. “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably my favorite chapter that ive ever written. one day ill write a real high school au where i can focus chapter upon chapter on combeferre and courfeyrac and enjolras' friendship. one day


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> marius is truly trying his best to not pontmercy this

Marius just transferred to Corinth High and he is, somehow, the stage manager.

“You have experience from your last school, and I wouldn’t trust the other people who are qualified for it with something this big,” Mr. Valjean had said, shooting meaningful glares at the heads of the build and costuming crews.

The build crew head is Ba-something, and they’re _huge_ —they apparently used to be on the wrestling team until they got kicked off for beating up a ‘transphobic douchenozzle’—and they’re playing Gaston in the show along with running the build crew, and they seem pretty trustworthy to Marius, but Marius supposes that Mr. Valjean has known them for longer and knows better. The costuming head is a different story, though.

Courfeyrac was assigned as Marius’ student ambassador and... It’s not that Courfeyrac is _irresponsible_ , but more that he just gets easily distracted—especially by pretty people—so putting him in charge of a bunch of actors probably would’ve been a mess. Regardless of the reason, Marius is in charge.

Which is… Awesome! Or something! Probably. Maybe it’ll be awesome when he doesn’t have almost 30 teens staring blankly at him.

“Um! I’m Marius,” He says, then, when the staring continues, “And I’m the stage manager? I hope we all have a, um, great show! Oh, but, um, knock on wood. But I’m sure it’ll be great.”

Before he can ramble more, noise starts coming from the back hall, signaling the arrival of either one person talking to themself or two people that sound nearly the same.

“Just because you’re not breaking in doesn’t mean that it’s okay,” The voice or voices say.

It’s replied to with, “His mother loves me, and she always makes too much for dinner anyway.”

“But that doesn’t mean that it’s socially- Oh! Are we late?”

It’s two voices, or at least two people walk in. They’re both _incredibly_ pretty and Marius is pretty sure that he heard one or two people utter a prayer under their breath, which he totally understands because the girl on the left in the boy’s uniform, looks like something ethereal and he’s _not at all worthy to be in the presence of such an angel, oh my stars and garters_.

“I told you, Enjolras,” The angel says, then she makes her way to the front to apologize to Marius up close and _Oh god no_. “I’m Cosette Fauchelevent and this is my brother Enjolras, and we’re both so dreadfully sorry to misuse your time like this.”

Marius attempts to introduce himself, but it comes out more like “‘M Ma’i’s” through his panic and mumbling. The angel doesn’t notice--or pretends not to, bless her--and smiles and shakes his hand.

“I hope you won’t be too hard on us… I know there are rules about kicking people who are late out and-”

“Never!” Marius blurts, way too loud, “I mean, we could never function without our,” He runs through the cast list in his head and realizes that she’s their Beast, and thinks, _How incorrectly she was cast!_ “Our Beast! So I wouldn’t kick you out. Never, ever.”

The boy--Enjolras, their Bel, Marius recalls--stomps over and physically pulls Cosette away. The glare he send Marius very clearly articulates _Stay away from my sister_ , but the way that Cosette smacks the back of his head and smiles at Marius over her shoulder draws him even further in.

“Um,” He says, but the twins have sat down and are now fiercely whispering to each other, drawing everyone’s attention. Marius looks to Mr. Valjean, who is sitting offstage in the auditorium seats looking extremely amused, for help. Beside him, Mr. Javert has his head in his hands.

“Okay, thank you, Marius,” Mr. Valjean says, standing up and clapping once, “Now that we know that _no one_ is getting kicked out, we can start our ice breakers! Name, grade, role, favorite Disney character.”

The twins stop whispering and glare at Mr. Valjean in vaguely creepy unison. The other actors see this and start tittering and chattering excitedly. An actor stands up, dark green eyes sparkling with mirth.

“My name is Grantaire--No last name, like Beyonce. I’m a junior, I’m playing Lumiere, and, while I’ve always been partial to Mulan, I’ve recently become more and more interested in Belle,” Grantaire finishes his introduction with a wink towards Enjolras, and Marius is pretty sure that Enjolras actually _hisses_ at him.

 _What exactly did I sign myself up for?_ Marius wonders as the next person stands up and Grantaire keeps smirking at Enjolras and Enjolras is being physically restrained by Cosette, _And is it too late to back down?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> real talk finals are about to start and college is hard so THURSDAY's update should go off without a hitch but next monday might be delayed
> 
> thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feuilly is a Good Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> k so finals kicked my ass. but im DONE WITH MY FRESHMAN YEAR OF COLLEGE!!! which means that yall should be getting More Content and it'll be regular now. the real reason this chapter took so long is bc (while i have most of the fic written) this chapter had to go through major rewriting
> 
> but on the PLUS SIDE this chapter is like half the length of the entire fic thus far lol. pls enjoy

Feuilly is a senior, and he’s going to college for mechanical engineering and digital media design. He’s done theater since middle school, he’s even been the lead in a show or two, but he knows that it’s not really his ‘thing’—and he’s absolutely fine with that, he’s more of a background guy anyway—but he also knows that there are other people in the club, in this very _show_ , that could make a career out of this.

Two of those people are the Fauchelevents, and this show especially should showcase their skills and make sure that everyone _else_ knows it too. However, Feuilly knows Enjolras and Cosette better than anyone else in his grade, so he knows firsthand how stubborn the Fauchelevents can be; he was supposed to be Enjolras' mentor back in sophomore year and his friend Floreal was supposed to be Costte's, and they went through two months of dogged avoidance from the twins, followed by a month where they both refused to acknowledge Feuilly or Floreal until they were allowed to share mentors. He and Floreal decided that it would be easier and more enjoyable to just agree than it would be to fight them, so they co-mentored the twins (Not that it was hard when their co-mentees were and are all but attached at the hip).

Since then, he had been close to the twins, so he knows that they were so close because, between an absent father—“sperm donor,” as they call him—and a mother who works herself to the bone for them, they rely on each other more than anyone else. So, as he watches the train wreck that is Enjolras pretending to be bad at acting, he knows that if he wants any information on why in the world this is happening, he should ask Cosette.

One day, when they aren’t doing a full run through and Feuilly won’t be needed for a while, he tells JVJ that he’s going to get sized up and leaves the auditorium. He finds Cosette in the costume shop, being poked and prodded by Courfeyrac. Her face is shockingly devoid of her trademark bright smile, instead featuring an irritated scowl— _Or_ , He supposes after a moment, _it isn’t that shocking, considering how she's been acting since she was cast_.

“Hey Cosette, Courf,” He says as he enters. Courfeyrac doesn’t pause in his work, merely waving a hand and humming in acknowledgment through a mouthful of pins. Cosette turns her head, moving her body as little as possible in order to avoid scolding from Courfeyrac.

“Feuilly,” Cosette greets him, her frown softening, “Shouldn't you be practicing?”

“They're doing the opening scene and no one can remember their choreography, I won't be needed for a while,” He says, “I'm really just here to talk to you, if that's okay.”

Something in his face or tone of voice must tip her off because Cosette narrows her eyes a bit in suspicion, but she nods nonetheless, “As soon as Courfeyrac is done with me.”

Courfeyrac, to his credit, seems to read the room enough that he hurries his way through the rest of the fitting.

“And you’re done! Come back next week to try it on, and Feuilly, I think your measurements from last semester are still accurate, but you can swing by whenever you have time and we’ll double check them,” Courfeyrac says. Cosette is out of there as soon as possible, and Courfeyrac grabs Feuilly’s arm and whispers, “Good luck, she was about two seconds away from stabbing me with my own scissors before you came in.”

Feuilly raises an eyebrow. Cosette is more intimidating than she looks—she’s is a tiny thing, but she has impressive emotional aptitude and her kind demeanor means that people don’t realize that her sharp tongue could rip them to shreds without lifting a hand—but she’s, at worst, just a bit upset right now. _And_ , He thinks, _Even if she_ was _any worse, Courf has always had a flair for the dramatic._ “She can’t be _that_ bad.”

“I don’t know _what_ JVJ did or said, but it’s got her and the other one up in arms, apparently. It’s all anyone’s talking about,” Courfeyrac says.

“I’ve noticed,” Feuilly says, because, despite Courfeyrac’s soft tone, this isn’t some secret; _anyone_ with basic social skills can tell that the twins are trying to get kicked out. “I’m going to try and talk to her about that, actually.”

Courfeyrac grimaces, “ _Good luck_ ,” He repeats, then, “Ugh, wish me luck too, I have to go talk to Enjolras later this week, and I hear he’s even scarier than her.”

Feuilly thinks of how Enjolras gushes about shows and sets that he really loves, remembers when Enjolras called him in a panic because he’d accidentally had a sip of hard lemonade and was worried that he might be drunk, recalls the many times that Enjolras has burst into tears over a beautiful instrumental arrangement. He nearly laughs at how terrified Courfeyrac looks. “I promise you, he’s not as scary as people say.”

“Or maybe you just have the will of a hundred men,” Courfeyrac teases, smiling. Feuilly rolls his eyes back, but he’s smiling too. Courfeyrac makes a shooing motion, “Now, get out of my studio. Go talk to our Beast.”

Feuilly waves goodbye and leaves, only to find Cosette already in the middle of a conversation with someone. The new stage manager, Marius, is standing against the wall, very clearly flustered. Cosette herself is bracing herself with one arm on the wall and is grinning up at him through her eyelashes, a hand playing with her hair. It’s such a reversal of the stereotypical scene, so very _Cosette_ , that Feuilly almost laughs. Instead, he approaches the two quietly.

“I’m, um, really grateful to Mr. Valjean for the opportunity that he’s given me, with managing this show and all,” Marius is saying, eyes downcast. He glances up quickly, but looks back down and flushes even more when he and Cosette’s eyes meet.

“Valjean’s a nice guy,” Cosette says, as though she hasn’t been spending all her free time glaring at him like he sunk the Titanic. “He knows our mom, and he’s always been nice to Enjolras and I. It’s Javert that you have to watch out for.”

“Uh, yeah, I… noticed that,” Marius says, paling dramatically.

Cosette laughs, the sound like a bell. “He’s only nice to Eponine and Gavroche. I guess he just has a soft spot for the Thenardier's. Not that I can blame him,” She says with a sigh. Feuilly narrows his eyes at the tone because it sounds a touch too innocent and sweet to be normal, but Marius, who doesn’t know better and seems smitten enough that it wouldn’t matter even if he did, makes a noise that’s the equivalent of a question mark. Cosette continues, her voice softening. “I mean, who wouldn’t? Eponine is so talented, not to mention how pretty she is. She’s basically the perfect Babette, but it’s so unfortunate that you won’t be able to hear her sing or anything because that’s a real treat.”

“Really?” Marius asks, leaning forward with interest, “I mean, I just met her, but she doesn’t seem the type to enjoy singing that much.”

“She’s a theater kid, Marius. If she didn’t like singing, she’d have left a long time ago. Seriously, you should ask her to demonstrate some time, because it’s so sad that she doesn’t have her own song in this show,” Cosette says, another drawn out, dramatic sigh attached. “Enjolras and I were just talking, actually, about how she would be such a good Belle. She and Grantaire were shoe-ins for The Beast and Belle before we came in, you know, and I’m sure she’s disappointed.”

“Oh…” Marius trails off, looking thoughtful and sad in an embarrassingly earnest way. Feuilly, who has now realized what Cosette is trying to do, wonders if he’s this gullible all the time or if it’s just a symptom of talking to a pretty girl. “Do you think I should talk to her? It’s sort of my job to make sure the actors are okay.”

“That’d be so kind, but I’m sure she’d try to hide it from you too, she is an actor after all.” Cosette says, her voice saccharinely sweet, and Feuilly is struck by the irony of Cosette, using her acting skills to pretend to be a concerned friend, saying that. “If only Mr. Valjean would relax his rules and let Enjolras and I bow out… Grantaire and Eponine are ever so sad about missing the roles…”

Cosette trails off sadly and Marius himself looks close to tears as well, so Feuilly decides to cut in there.

“Ah, there you are, Cosette, I was just looking for you.”

Cosette turns so quickly that Feuilly is shocked that she doesn’t hurt her neck. Her face dramatically falls. Feuilly just flashes her a bright smile

“Oh! Maurice,” Marius says, before immediately turning bright red, “Sorry! I know your real name, it’s, um, F something… Feuilly, right?”

“Yeah, Feuilly,” Feuilly says, then, “I think Valjean was calling you earlier?”

Marius jumps, literally and runs away with a quick, “Thanks! See you later, Cosette!”

Cosette frowns at Feuilly. “Valjean doesn’t need him.”

“But you were trying to avoid me,” Feuilly accuses, though not meanly. Cosette doesn’t answer, just turns her head away. Feuilly sighs, “Listen, I’m not here to chew you out or anything, I just want to know what’s wrong.”

“It’s nothing you don’t know yet,” Cosette sighs. She pulls a hand through her hair, undoing her ponytail and redoing it as she speaks. “We don’t want to do this. Combeferre says that it’s not that bad, and he’s often right, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“And your audition was just supposed to be a symbolic thing, right?” Feuilly asks.

“Mostly. Beauty and The Beast was Enjolras’ favorite growing up; our mom brought us to a showing of the musical when we were 6, and it’s the first show that I really remember seeing. You always want to be a part of your first show, to make it come to life for someone else, you know?” Cosette shrugs. “I had thought that _maybe_ Enj and I would get background characters, if Javert was feeling nice. This is… a lot.”

Feuilly latches onto that. “You’re overwhelmed?”

Cosette shoots him a narrow-eyed look. “I didn’t say that.”

“Fine, fine,” Feuilly says, placatingly. People often say that Cosette and Enjolras are really different, but when Cosette glares at him with that trademark Fauchelevent fire, Feuilly thinks they couldn’t be more similar. “But you didn’t expect to have to pencil in all these rehearsals and fittings.”

Cosette doesn’t responds, but it wasn’t really a question. Now that he’s close, he can see that she’s using more concealer under her eyes, can read the furrow in her brows; things that he had earlier attributed to anger over casting, he can now see that they might be stress exacerbated. He frowns softly, fading from Judgmental Big Brother Feuilly to Concerned Mentor Feuilly in milliseconds.

“Don’t you have a study hall?”

“Well,” She starts, “ I did, but now I’m volunteering in the office during it. I’m just running mail and making copies, it’s nothing strenuous.”

Feuilly’s frown deepens. “Cosette, there’s nothing wrong with actually using your study hall. I wouldn’t have gotten through last year without the hour-long nap I could take.”

Cosette shifts on her feet, “But-”

“No buts. You have to take care of yourself,” Feuilly says, “We can sort out this musical stuff, but you need to calm down before you burn yourself out.”

Cosette huffs loudly. “You’re right.”

“As always,” Feuilly adds, grinning when Cosette rolls her eyes with a small smile on her face. “Now, let’s get back before Valjean actually needs one of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen,,, i love overachiever cosette, i love cunning and sly cosette, so i combined them. her convo w marius is gonna cause other Issues so thanks for that cosette *shakes fist at sky* 
> 
> but yeah cosette is 100% based on this girl who was in my drama club and she legit was taking almost all aps and she had 1 study hall but she used it to run errands for teachers and she got one (1) major character role in a play and she nearly quit drama club bc everything piled up and it was so stressful. im sure that when sette and enj planned to Not have anything to do for the year and suddenly are not only in the show but are LEADS, theres gonna be some stress there. also i wanted to write Mom Friend Feuilly (we'll also get to see Irresponsible Troublemaker Feuilly in bahorel's chapter, we get it all)
> 
> anyway thanks so much for reading!!! ill be back on wednesday night/thurs with a Hip New Courfeyrac POV chapter (im love him so much writing for him is so fun)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> courfeyrac, love of my life, light of my soul, makes a new friend

Courfeyrac loves costuming. It’s been his favorite since 7th grade, and he’s beyond pumped that he gets to run the shop this year. The only downside to Courfeyrac’s job is talking to the actors.

Actually, that’s not true. Bahorel is awesome and a great Gaston while also running build crew, the ginger senior playing Maurice—Feuilly—is nice, and the middle school kid playing Chip is probably Courfeyrac’s new favorite person ever. The real problem is talking to the Fauchelevents. 

They’re trying to get kicked out, _everyone_ knows that, but JVJ issued an order to keep them in the show at all costs. Normally, the twins are nice—Or, well, Courfeyrac knows for sure that Cosette is usually really nice; he’s never really talked to Enjolras, but he’s heard that he’s kind, in an intense sort of way—but right now, they’re snappish and upset and Courfeyrac can’t count how many people they’ve _both_ made cry. 

So he’s less than psyched that he has to talk to Enjolras, especially because Enjolras just finished arguing with the guy who plays Lumiere and he’s usually 80% more irritable after that, but Courfeyrac’s the costuming head and he doesn’t want Enjolras to make any of his little costumers cry, so he has to be the one to do this. He’s been putting it off for long enough. Enjolras is sitting in the wings reading his script, as all the actors have been banished from the stage while Bahorel and the builders take it over for measurements, and he’s scowling at it like it’s personally affronted him. _God, I don’t want to do this_ , Courfeyrac thinks, mentally groaning. 

He’s trying to figure out how to breach the subject when Enjolras looks snaps, “What is it?”

“Huh?”

“Courfeyrac, right? Costuming?” Enjolras pauses, clearly waiting for Courfeyrac to confirm or deny, but Courfeyrac is too busy being shocked that Enjolras remembers him to respond. Enjolras scowls more and shakes his script. “Whatever, you’ve been staring at me for five minutes. You’re being distracting.”

“Are you actually learning your lines?” Courfeyrac blurts, immediately regretting it. He knows that it’s a rude question but so far, Cosette and Enjolras have just been improvising and making Javert feel regret. They’re frequently so far off the mark that their lines are just ignored by the rest of the cast, giving everyone the distinctly weird sight of a musical working _around_ it’s two stars.

Enjolras scoffs. “I basically have the whole thing memorized already. I’m reading the script to see how I can screw up more.”

There’s a moment of silence, then Courfeyrac says, “You know, JVJ isn’t going to let you go.”

“Excuse me?”

“Valjean,” Courfeyrac explains, “He’s determined to keep you both in the show, for some reason. He told all the heads that you guys were basically untouchable last week.”

Enjolras deflates, putting his script down on the cheap school linoleum with a dull thud, but he doesn’t look surprised. Courfeyrac thinks that he probably already knew that, somehow. He sighs. “What do you suggest I do then? I _really_ didn’t want this role.”

“But you tried out,” Courfeyrac says, screwing up his face. He knew they wanted out, but they didn’t even want the roles? 

“It’s a whole thing, mostly to do with Javert,” Enjolras says, waving a hand as though a feud with legendary hardass Javert is something inconsequential. “There are many people, many people in this _cast_ , that wanted these roles more than us, and Valjean knows it. He’s punishing them just as much as he’s punishing us.”

Courfeyrac thinks about that. Valjean is many things, but unfair is not one of them, and courfeyrac doesn’t think that Valjean would purposely hurt a group of people just to make two of them suffer an extraordinary amount. Besides, the way he talks about his expectations for this show…

“I don’t think this is supposed to be a punishment,” He says eventually, furrowing his brow, “Valjean seems really excited about this, even though you’ve both been absolutely terrible for the last week. I think he really wants to see you act. I think he really thinks you could be great.” 

Enjolras continues to frowns up at Courfeyrac, through it lacks the anger from before. “Really?”

“I mean, yeah,” Courfeyrac shrugs, because his personality is 90% bluster but he really doesn’t think that JVJ would do this if he didn’t actually care. “That’s just what I think though.”

“I trust you. My best friend, Combeferre, had a class with you last semester and he said he liked your analysis,” Enjolras says, as though that makes perfect sense and as though that’s a perfectly logical reason to start trusting someone. _Whatever_ , Courfeyrac thinks, _Actors are weird_. “What do you think I should do, then?”

“You’re really talented, you and Cosette both, so I mean you could always just rock it? Make it the best show you can,” Courfeyrac suggests and then, remembering why he came there in the first place, “Preferably while wearing one of Belle’s dresses, if you wouldn’t mind. The other costumers were really looking forward to making the yellow ball gown and they wanted to know if you’d be amiable to wearing it.”

Courfeyrac half expects an argument, or at least a disagreement—Enjolras is known for being very forward-thinking and he _did_ wear a skirt to his audition, but that doesn’t mean he wants to wear a series of flowy dresses onstage in front of the whole town—but Enjolras just nods. “Tell them that I’ll wear all of Belle’s planned dresses. When do you need me to come down for sizing?”

“Oh!” Courfeyrac starts, shocked, “Can you come down now? Are you sure?”

“The gender binary is bullshit,” Enjolras shrugs and then smirks, “Plus, it’ll piss off my sperm donor, so…”

Courfeyrac can understand that, especially since his dad only stops being an absent dickhead to criticize the fact that his son sews. He offers Enjolras a hand to help him stand up and says, “You’re not as mean as everyone says you are.”

Enjolras, rather than being offended, smiles, “And you’re not as annoying as everyone says you are.”

Courfeyrac laughs, and Enjolras does too. Courfeyrac begins leading them to the costume shop, grinning. “I think we’re going to be great friends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was SO FUN TO WRITE its always so weird for me to write enj/courf/ferre as not all being Eternal Best Friends but i tried it this time and this was a Good first meeting. 
> 
> thanks so much for reading, see you on monday??? maybe??? on monday at 10am pst, ill be flying through the sky from la back home to cinci, so ill probs be w/o wifi until like 8pm est?????? but idk it should be up monday


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> eponine, loml, deals w more Pontmercying

When Éponine was in the eighth grade, she and Enjolras and Cosette were in the same math class. Eighth grade was sort of Cosette’s glow up year; she stopped being clumsy little Euphrasie who was weirdly into theater and got picked on all the time, and became tall, confident Cosette who was cool and pretty and an _actor_. Cosette handled the transition with more grace than most could have, but it was clear that she was still self-conscious about herself. Unluckily for her, their teacher was a major bitch and liked to pick on Cosette.

Looking back, Éponine regrets not helping, but Cosette had been inadvertently stealing all of Éponine’s crushes and Éponine’s judgement was clouded by her complicated feelings towards Cosette’s beauty, so she did nothing while the teacher continued picking on Cosette. Then, three weeks into the semester, Enjolras started getting in trouble. 

He didn’t do anything particularly horrible, but he was disruptive and distracting and purposely obtuse; he kept the teacher’s attention on himself, so she wouldn’t bother anyone else. He eventually annoyed her enough that she requested that he—and, by consequence, Cosette, because the twins have always gone everywhere together—be removed from her class. Éponine learned that semester that the Fauchelevent’s are good at many things and one of them is civil disobedience—A fact that has only been reinforced since then, with the time that Enjolras brought ice cream for everyone at his lunch to protest the school removing ice cream sandwiches as a snack option when he was 15 and with how Cosette has been wearing a boy’s uniform ever since a teacher gave her a dresscut and tried to slut shame her for growing an inch and not immediately replacing her (Still fairly long) skirt—so Éponine isn’t surprised about how they’re acting about the musical.

What she is surprised about is being pulled into it.

“I’m sorry, Cosette said _what_?”

Marius, the cute stage manager, turns a shade of red that _should_ be unflattering, though Éponine can only find herself charmed by how easily he flusters. _Ugh, feelings._

“She just said,” Marius begins, “Um, that you wanted to be Belle? And that she and Enjolras felt bad. I don’t think she wanted me to talk to you about it…”

“I’m sure that she didn’t, seeing as it’s not true. I haven’t ever had any interest in being Belle,” Éponine says, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Of course, her statement isn’t exactly true either--Éponine wouldn’t have been _unhappy_ if she was Belle and she had known that she was a shoe-in for the role before the whole Fauchelevent thing--but she really doesn’t mind not being the leading lady and Marius doesn’t need to know everything about her. Regardless, instead of being soothed by this, Marius becomes more panicked.

“She said you’d say that! Oh gosh, maybe I _should’ve_ just gone to Mr. Valjean…” He pauses, his eyes flickering to the ground and back up to Éponine, “I’m sorry, I’m sure this is a sensitive topic for you, and I pulled you out of practice, and I really didn’t mean to upset you, and-”

“Marius,” Éponine interrupts, “Seriously, nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

“Cosette said-”

Éponine, at the end of her rope, says, “You’ve been played. Cosette probably thought you would go to Valjean first, who may have been swayed by this sob story, but you came to me and I’m telling you that it’s all bullshit.”

Marius blinks, genuinely shocked. His mouth opens and closes a few times before he manages to say, “But… She was so _sincere_.”

“She’s an _actor_ , Marius,” Éponine says, “And she definitely knew that sincerity would convince you.”

“How?”

 _You_ reek _of adorably trusting, wide-eyed gullibility_ , Éponine doesn’t say. Instead she says, “Cosette is as smart as she is pretty, and she is _incredibly_ pretty.”

Marius nods miserably in agreement. “What do I do, then?”

“You get back to stage managing and try to resist the wiles of the Fauchelevents, difficult as that may be,” Éponine says, “You can start by returning back to rehearsal with me.”

Marius looks miserable for a second more--And _honestly_ , it has to be illegal for one boy to be so cute--before sobering up into a mask of determination and offering his arm to Éponine. “Let’s go.”

Éponine rolls her eyes but takes his arm anyway, with minimal blushing. As they walk back towards the auditorium, Éponine can hear the music playing for _Belle_. _Oh, great, back just in time to watch Enjolras miss cues and sing off-beat_ , She thinks. Then, they get closer, and she can hear the voices along with the music and she hears Enjolras crooning, bright and strong and _perfect_ , “There must be more than this provincial life!”

“Is that _Enjolras_?” Marius asks, jaw dropping in surprise. Éponine doesn’t answer, too busy dropping his arm and walking faster. She bursts into the room just in time to watch Enjolras go through the lines with the librarian. Enjolras is vibrant onstage, grinning and genuinely affecting every ounce of Disney prince charisma he has in him, to the point where it seems that everyone else has been thrown _off_ their game by him being on his. 

“Is this really happening?” Éponine asks the air. 

“If not, then it’s a collective hallucination,” Marius says from behind her, “I already pinched myself twice to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.”

Éponine is still shell-shocked, because there’s a difference between knowing that someone is good and actually _seeing_ them perform, but she feels a small smile spread across her face. “This is going to be _great_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if i was writing a full in depth fic, it would be eposette or eponine/marius/cosette but unfortunately we'll just have to have these Hints of eponine having crushes on both of them
> 
> anyway! the show is going on! gee whiz i wonder what other conflict could arise when a religious high school is putting on a genderswapped version of beauty and the beast and it's just been revealed that the male lead will wear dresses. i wonder.
> 
> anyway! am i decreasing the update schedule to once a week? probably. sorry im Busy and editing takes a shocking amount of time while im working. but thank you all so much for reading and enjoying this??? you make it easy for me to carve out time to work on it.
> 
> thank you so so so much, comments and kudos are as always appreciated, and i'll see you next week!

**Author's Note:**

> [Main Tumblr (liveinlivingcolor)](http://www.liveinlivingcolor.tumblr.com) | [Writing Tumblr (nacreousglowclouds)](http://nacreousglowclouds.tumblr.com/) | [Personal Twitter (@squidias)](http://twitter.com/squidias)


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